UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. ... more

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. ... more

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. ... more

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less

UAlbany grad student Erik Schlimmer, who is researching the story behind all 800 streets in the city of Albany, talks about his project at UAlbany on Wednesday July 8, 2015 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. ... more

Erik Schlimmer is a former Army paratrooper, backwoods adventurer and author of three books about the Adirondacks, but none of that prepared him for his latest marathon writing project: tracking down the history behind Albany's nearly 800 street names.

"It's a huge amount of work and I'm guessing it will take four to five years to finish," said Schlimmer, 42, of Troy, a University at Albany graduate student working toward a master of social work degree. He works part-time at the Research Foundation for the State University of New York.

Luckily, Schlimmer is a quick study.

"I'm starting from scratch because I didn't know Albany history, but I'm having a lot of fun learning," he said.

More Information

To follow Schlimmer's progress or send him tips, go to his Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/capcobble

Schlimmer tapped the power of social media by creating a Facebook page, Capital Cobblestone Project, where he posts frequent updates and solicits help.

On Friday, he worked on an entry for Dix Street, named for John Adams Dix, secretary of the treasury, New York governor, Civil War general.

He's received numerous leads, tips and background on the city's street names from amateur historians.

Someone wrote to tell him the history of Danker Florist, which gave Danker Avenue its name.

Another person sent him background on the Pearl Potash Co., a thriving 18th-century firm that used a mineral process for bleaching textiles and making glass and soap. Its location is one explanation of how Pearl Street got its name.

A different version exists, however, that Pearl Street was originally spelled in the Dutch way as Paarl in recognition of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a prominent Dutch pearl merchant in the Netherlands and Albany's first patroon.

Schlimmer seeks opinions on his Facebook page, but ultimately he'll weigh various etymological versions and determine the source with the best supporting evidence. "It's fascinating because it's all new to me," he said.

He's gotten waylaid a bit when Albany residents send him a message asking him the etymology of, say, Kakely or Brevator streets. "I've got a method, and I can't get sidetracked trying to run down specific names," he said.

Schlimmer understands the modus operandi of this type of project. He's the author of "History Inside the Blue Line," a book about place names in the Adirondacks. He'll tackle the Albany street names in a similar manner: interviewing historians, scouring history books, consulting reference books and other bibliographic sources.

He got the idea a few months ago after he took note of street names in the capital city and wondered how they came to be called that. A drive along Colvin Avenue sealed the deal. He discovered it was named for Verplanck Colvin, a writer, adventurer and surveyor whose 19th-century surveys of the Adirondack Park led to the creation of the Forest Preserve.

"I'm a big fan of Colvin's, and when I saw his name on the street in Albany, I was hooked," Schlimmer said.

He's already written entries for about 75 street names and has notes and sources on about 75 more.

He tipped his hat Friday on Facebook to Simeon DeWitt, surveyor general of New York who produced city street maps circa 1790. DeWitt used an avian theme for downtown streets he named: Eagle, Hawk, Swan, Dove and Lark. He believes DeWitt Street was named for the map maker.

Schlimmer is tracking streets that have had more than one name due to shifting cultural sensibilities.

For instance, Sheridan Street was Fox, Madison was Wolf, Broadway was Cow, Knox was Swallow, Central was Snipe, Lancaster was Tiger, and Washington was Lion.

Schlimmer is finding other fractious naming histories by consulting books of Albany history and matching up last names with street names from a spreadsheet he has of all the city's streets that city officials provided.

"I started with the easy names that are simple to research," he said. "I think I'll reach 200 pretty quickly, but the next 600 will be a challenge."

The routine and discipline of being a thru-hiker helps Schlimmer persevere. He's hiked thousands of miles and climbed every mountain above 3,000 feet across the Northeast. That quest totaled 770 mountains and took him nearly a decade to finish.

His personal record is 200 mountains climbed within a one-year period. He paddled a kayak the 360-mile length of the Erie Canal and twice rode a bicycle across the U.S.

He's also managed to write four books, including "Thru Hiker's Guide to America" and a memoir, "My Adirondacks."

He returned to school with a plan to assist veterans as a social worker.

"I guess I'm on a reverse retirement plan," he said. "I traveled extensively in my 20s and 30s and worked to support my adventures. Now, I'm settling down and looking for a career."

The beating his body took during two years as an Army paratrooper was another reason he hung up his backpack. "You fall 34 feet per second and hit the ground like a ton of bricks," he said.

His girlfriend, Janine DeFilippo, lives in Oneonta and is a writer and college writing tutor. She serves as his first reader and editor. He gathers research for long months before he sits down at his laptop computer.

"I'm a binge writer," he said. "I'll write all day in the winter."

Schlimmer is taking up the Albany street names project where Virginia Bowers, city historian who died in 2008 at 84, left off. She did not reach her goal of producing a book similar to volumes on the origin of street names that have been published for New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.

Now, Schlimmer has taken up the challenge. He intends to self-publish the Albany street names book as he did for his last three books.

"I'm happy if I break even," he said. "I consider it a success if I end up with some gas money for the next project."